Hi, Rick,
There are some interesting things in your post:
1. You are a happily married man (not symptomatic of bipolar illness.)
2. Your wife can't remember when you and she had an argument
in the past. (not symptomatic of bipolar illness.)
3. You've never gotten physical in an argument (not symptomatic, etc.)
There are at least two forms of bipolar illness: type I, which can
develop into a psychosis if not treated by professionals in the medical
field, and medications are required. Bipolar, Type II, which is a much milder form of the illness and can occur in women in their latter years.
Both forms of the illness can be inherited and it can be an active illness even in the early teen years and continue throughout life.
I would like for you to go to a site called "Doctor Yourself.com-caffeine and read for yourself how caffeine, tea, coffee all make a huge difference in feeling tone, irritation, and anxiety.
I really do not recognize bipolar illness in the information you have
given; but if you and your wife want reassurance from a psychiatrist,
I wouldn't hesitate to get all the information you need. If your wife
is jumping to the conclusion that you are or might be bipolar based
on this one experience, my inclination is that she needs to be more
knowledgeable about
the illness and even about
her own instability,
perhaps. Most wives can take family differences in their stride and
move on with happy living. Every form of living with a husband or
wife is going to have moments of disagreements along the way.
You seem to be a very nice person to me who might want to check with a specialist just to reassure your wife and to get her to understand what bipolar illness is. She might also learn more about
the condition
by just going online to a site such as bipolar illness.com
Take care.
It's Genetic
Post Edited (It's Genetic) : 3/9/2011 6:50:43 PM (GMT-7)